Unit 2 Biology Study Guide

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Not all detritivores reduce the matter to simple chemicals. Some like worms and beetle larvae miss a lot of the matter, and produce feces which more thorough decomposers can go through.

Trophic Pyramid

a. Diagram of trophic levels b. Represents size of groups and amount of energy available at each trophic level.

Key Energy Transfer Ideas

a. Organisms at each trophic level use energy. b. Energy flows upward. c. Large biomass of producers supports upper trophic level in healthy ecosystems. (foundation) d. About 10% of energy at each level gets passed on to next level, therefore pyramids don't have many levels. e. Number of populations and number of individuals greatly reduces from one level to next due to little energy transfer. (less carnivores than producers)

What type of consumer is a carnivore?

secondary/tertiary consumer

Consumer

(a.k.a heterotroph) An organism that eats other organisms or organic matter.

Producer

(a.k.a. autotroph) - An organism that can make its own food by using energy from its surroundings. (photosynthesis)

Producers (trophic levels)

1. Bottom level; serves as the foundation of the ecosystem. 2. Largest amount of biomass

Primary Consumers (trophic levels)

1. Consumer producers 2. Next largest amount of biomass

Secondary Consumers (trophic levels)

1. Eat primary consumers, producers 2. Smaller amount of biomass than previous level

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1. The sun is the primary source of energy for most ecosystems. (sunlight) 2. A decomposer eats mostly dead matter. 3. A food web contains many food chains. 4. Photosynthesis is the process by which light energy from the sun is converted to food.

How many oxygen (o2) and carbon dioxide (co2) molecules are needed for one glucose molecule?

6 co2 and 6 o2 are needed, then 1 glucose is made and 6 o2 molecules are released.

Omnivore

A consumer that eats both plants and animals.

Herbivore

A consumer that eats only plants.

Carnivore

A consumer that eats other animals.

Food Web

A diagram that shows the feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem, made up of many food chains.

Identify producers and consumers in a food web.

A producer is at the bottom of the food web, and is the base. If there is a strong base, then the other levels will be strong as well. Consumers are in the middle and at the top of the food web. They rely on producers and other consumers to get their energy.

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All food chains start with producers. Herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores are three types of consumers. If the sun's energy couldn't reach earth, the plants couldn't make light energy, so they'd die out. Then the primary consumers wouldn't have food and die out. Then the secondary, tertiary, quaternary, etc. would also die out.

What do decomposers eat?

All the levels of a food chain. (dead plants and organisms)

What happens if a portion of the food chain is broken?

All the organisms in the chain are affected.

Decomposer

An organism that gets energy by breaking down the remains of dead organisms or animal wastes and consuming or absorbing the nutrients.

What are the top predators called?

Apex Predators

Based on how they get their energy, organisms are organized into what two groups?

Autotrophs (producers) and Heterotrophs (consumers).

Explain how autotrophs and heterotrophs get their energy.

Autotrophs - They make their own food, usually through photosynthesis. Heterotrophs - They eat other organisms, plants and animals.

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Decomposers turn dead matter into chemicals (minerals) which producers can now use.

What two things do we get from food?

Energy and chemical building blocks.

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Every molecule of water (H2O) has... Two hydrogen atoms One oxygen atom Every molecule of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) has... One carbon atom Two oxygen atoms

Two things that come out of photosynthesis. (Chemical Energy)

Glucose (C6H12O6) Oxygen (O2)

How would a food web be affected if a species disappeared from an ecosystem?

If a species disappeared from an ecosystem, whatever that species ate, there would be more of (overpopulate), and whatever ate that species, they'd have to find a different source of food, starve, eat more of the other stuff you eat, or relocate. (adapting is something a species does over many generators with little tiny changes)

What is the role of a decomposer in a food web?

It breaks down dead plants and animals into minerals.

What three things go into the process of photosynthesis?

Light Energy Water (H2O) Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

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Most quaternary (and higher) consumers usually live in freshwater, aquatic, or marine ecosystems.

Give an example of a decomposer and explain what would happen if decomposers were absent from a forest ecosystem.

Mushroom (fungi) (bacteria is another one); Tons of dead matter and animal waste would pile up around the forest if decomposers didn't exist in the ecosystem, and producers would stop getting nutrients because the dead matter wouldn't be recycled.

Detritivores

Organisms that eat dead matter.

Where does the energy in food originate?

Plantlike organisms.

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Producers (P) Primary (1°) Secondary (2°) Tertiary (3°) Quaternary (4°)

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Producers convert light energy into chemical energy. They create biomass too.

What are the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem?

Producers produce food through photosynthesis. A consumer will eat other living organisms because they can't make their own food. A decomposer breaks down the remains of other dead organisms or their waste and consumes their nutrients.

What do the arrows represent in a food chain?

The arrows represent the flow of energy in a food chain.

What types of organisms typically make up the base, middle, and top of a food web?

The base is usually the producer. The middle is usually primary and secondary consumers. The top is tertiary consumers in most cases. The very top are the apex predators.

Explain how energy and chemical building blocks are utilized for in an organism.

The building blocks are used to make cells and other molecules. The energy is used to conduct all work and activities.

You get energy from the cheese on your pizza. Explain how the energy gets from the sun to you, by way of the cheese. (flow chart)

The cheese comes from animals that ate plants that captured the Sun's energy.

Food Chain

The pathway of energy transfer through various stages as a result of the feeding patterns of a series of organisms.

What type of consumer is a white-tailed deer?

herbivore (primary consumer)

How many carbons are needed for 1 glucose molecule?

There are 6 carbon atoms for 1 glucose molecule. Need 6 CO2 molecules for 1 glucose molecule.

What are the two types of food webs and how do they relate to each other?

There are water and land food webs. Land organisms will sometimes consume water organisms, and vice versa. (or they can just interact with each other)

Which is a characteristic of animals that are in the same food web?

They are in the same ecosystem.

Identify the two types of global food webs and describe how they are connected.

They are land (terrestrial) and water (aquatic) food webs. One web on land, one on water. Land organisms will sometimes consume water organisms, and vice versa. (connected by organisms that spend time in both)

What is the difference between a second-level consumer and a third-level consumer?

Third-level consumers eat other carnivores, and second-level consumers do not.

What type of consumer is an omnivore?

secondary consumer

Why is photosynthesis important?

a. This is the most important way energy gets into an ecosystem. If plants didn't do this, the sun would eat things up. Without this process, there's nothing to eat. No energy available to living things. b. Life wouldn't exist without the process of photosynthesis. c. Plants bring down the carbon dioxide level, and bring up the oxygen level since they consume carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

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d. Levels continue to get smaller e. !Some organisms feed at several levels!

Consumers

eat other organisms for energy.

Decomposers

eats remains of dead organisms for energy.

Trophic Levels

feeding levels in an ecosystem

What type of consumer is a herbivore?

primary consumer

Which of the following shows the proper order of a food chain?

producers --> herbivores --> carnivores --> decomposers

Carnivores that consume other carnivores are..

tertiary consumers

Biomass

the total organic matter in an ecosystem.

Producers

transforms Sun's energy into food energy.